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Papaya Diary

We love our papaya plants because they are both statuesque and productive.

	Our first papaya plant yielded over 40kgs of fruit over less than two years. In November 2008, the fruit became so heavy that the trunk of the plant snapped under the weight.
	In spring of 2008 we planted our second papaya plant, grown from a cutting taken from the first one. By late summer it had grown to 55cm tall and was bearing large fruit. We took it to GLEE and it was a great success, drawing lots of attention.
	Our third papaya plant started out as a cutting taken from the first papaya plant in the summer. We also took several cuttings a little later and placed them in the Hydropropagator. In a matter of weeks the cuttings rooted and were potted on into 11cm pots and grown on.
	At the beginning of December 2008, papaya 3 was planted into a GS400 system.
	January 2009 Papaya 3 has settled in really well. This time we have constructed an exoframe to help support the plant when the fruit start to get heavy later in the year. Papaya 2 has some stunning fruit which will begin to ripen soon.
	February 2009 The fruit on papaya 2 are beginning to ripen! The first fruit is just beginning to turn yellow.
	March 2009 Papaya 3 is beginning to put on some good growth. The fruit on papaya 2 are ripening more rapidly.
	April 2009 Great news! Papaya 3 is growing well and producing flowers and fruit.
	May 2009 We have now harvested over 5kgs of fruit from papaya 2 and there are plenty more to come. They are ripening thick and fast. As our pineapple is ready to harvest too, we are going to combine the two in a delicious Caribbean extravaganza!
	June 2009 In less than a month the papaya fruit have ripened and been harvested. There are just two left. These will be harvested next week. The new season fruit on both papaya plants are developing really well. We shall have a good crop from two plants this time! That's twice as many fruit salads and smoothies!
	July 2009 Papaya 3 is eagerly catching up with papaya 2 as both plants are producing a superb crop. Height: 99cm
	Papaya 2 is holding it's own and producing a second batch of fruit. Height: 128cm
	August 2009 Papaya 2 is now 135cm and looking fantastic. The fruit are growing beautifully. Papaya 3 is quickly catching up at 103cm. The fruit are almost as big.
	September 2009 Both papayas are growing extremely well. We harvested an unripe fruit from each one last week to make some delicious Thai Green Papaya Salad. We took it to the Mawdesley Funday to share.
	October 2009 The fruit on both Papaya 2 and Papaya 3 are swelling and increasing in size. Since we harvested two last month for the Funday even more fruit are forming and the heaviest fruit looks to be well over a kilo in weight.
	December 2009 The fruit on papaya 2 have begun to ripen. The first fruit off the plant weighed in at an impressive 1.37kgs.
	And what's more, the fruit on papaya 3 are well on their way too! Christmas will be rather fruity this year!